''Pangium'' is a genus containing the sole species ''Pangium edule'', a tall tree native to the mangrove swamps of Southeast Asia (

Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania between the Indian and Pacific oceans. It consists of over 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, Java, Sulawesi, and parts of Borneo and New Guine ...

and

Papua New Guinea Papua New Guinea (abbreviated PNG; , ; tpi, Papua Niugini; ho, Papua Niu Gini), officially the Independent State of Papua New Guinea ( tpi, Independen Stet bilong Papua Niugini; ho, Independen Stet bilong Papua Niu Gini), is a country i ...

). It produces a large poisonous fruit (the "football fruit" or pangi) which can be made edible by fermentation. It is

dioecious Dioecy (; ; adj. dioecious , ) is a characteristic of a species, meaning that it has distinct individual organisms (unisexual) that produce male or female gametes, either directly (in animals) or indirectly (in seed plants). Dioecious reproductio ...

, with male and female flowers produced on separate individuals. The taxonomy of the tree is uncertain and it may also be classed in the

Flacourtiaceae The Flacourtiaceae is a defunct family of flowering plants whose former members have been scattered to various families, mostly to the Achariaceae and Salicaceae. It was so vaguely defined that hardly anything seemed out of place there and it beca ...

or the

Violales Violales is a botanical name of an order of flowering plants and takes its name from the included family Violaceae; it was proposed by Lindley (1853). The name has been used in several systems, although some systems used the name Parietales for ...

Description

The tree can reach in height. The

leaves A leaf (plural, : leaves) is any of the principal appendages of a vascular plant plant stem, stem, usually borne laterally aboveground and specialized for photosynthesis. Leaves are collectively called foliage, as in "autumn foliage", wh ...

are heart-shaped. The brownish fruit grows in clusters and shaped like a pear.

Cultivation

The tree requires many years to mature and the seeds are therefore most frequently harvested from wild trees, as it is not economically feasible to cultivate. Although poisonous to humans, the seeds of the tree form part of the natural diet of the

babirusa The babirusas, also called deer-pigs ( id, babi rusa), are a genus, ''Babyrousa'', in the swine family found in the Indonesian islands of Sulawesi, Togian, Sula and Buru. All members of this genus were considered part of a single species unti ...

(''Babyroussa babyrussa'').

Uses

The fresh fruit and seeds contain

hydrogen cyanide Hydrogen cyanide, sometimes called prussic acid, is a chemical compound with the formula HCN and structure . It is a colorless, extremely poisonous, and flammable liquid that boils slightly above room temperature, at . HCN is produced on an ...

and are deadly poisonous if consumed without prior preparation. The seeds are first boiled and then buried in ash, banana leaves and earth for forty days, during which time, they turn from a creamy white colour to dark brown or black. The method relies on the fact that the hydrogen cyanide released by the boiling and fermentation is water-soluble and easily washed out. The kernels may be ground up to form a thick black gravy called , popular dishes include , beef stew in paste, popular in East and Central Java, and , rawon stew made with beef or chicken also exists in East Java. In West Java and Jakarta, or snakehead fish in paste soup is a popular traditional dish in Betawi cuisine. The

Toraja The Torajans are an ethnic group indigenous people, indigenous to a mountainous region of South Sulawesi, Indonesia. Their population is approximately 1,100,000, of whom 450,000 live in the List of regencies and cities of Indonesia, regency of ...

dish (black spice with fish or meat, also sometimes with vegetables) uses the black powder. In

Singapore Singapore (), officially the Republic of Singapore, is a sovereign island country and city-state in maritime Southeast Asia. It lies about one degree of latitude () north of the equator, off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, borde ...

and

Malaysia Malaysia ( ; ) is a country in Southeast Asia. The federation, federal constitutional monarchy consists of States and federal territories of Malaysia, thirteen states and three federal territories, separated by the South China Sea into two r ...

, the seeds are best known as an essential ingredient in ''

ayam Ayam may refer to: *Ayam (cap), a Korean hat * Ayam (people), Kuwaiti citizens of Persian origins. *''Ayam'', the Melayu and Malay word for chicken, used in names of dishes and chicken or food-related entities: **Ayam Brand, food company ** Ayam b ...

'' (chicken) or ''babi'' (pork) , a mainstay of

Peranakan cuisine Peranakan cuisine or Nyonya cuisine comes from the Peranakans, descendants of early Chinese migrants who settled in Penang, Malacca, Singapore and Indonesia, inter-marrying with local Malays. In Baba Malay, a female Peranakan is known as a ...

Dusun Dusun is the collective name of a tribe or ethnic and linguistic group in the Malaysian state of Sabah of North Borneo. Collectively, they form the largest ethnic group in Sabah. Dusun has been recognised as among the indigenous community of ...

tribe from

Borneo Borneo (; id, Kalimantan) is the third-largest island in the world and the largest in Asia. At the geographic centre of Maritime Southeast Asia, in relation to major Indonesian islands, it is located north of Java, west of Sulawesi, and eas ...

use this pounded kernel as main ingredient for making local signature dish called , sour taste fermented fish. People of

Minahasa The Minahasans (alternative spelling: Minahassa) are an ethnic group native to the North Sulawesi province of Indonesia, formerly known as North Celebes. The Minahasa people sometimes refer to themselves as Manado people. Although the Minahasan p ...

tribe in North Sulawesi use young leaves as vegetable. The leaves will be sliced into small part then it is cooked by mixing with herbs and pork fat or meat inside bamboo. Many sellers in

Tomohon Tomohon is a city in North Sulawesi ('' Sulawesi Utara'') Province, in central Indonesia. It covers an area of 147.21 km2, and had a population of 91,553 at the 2010 Census,Biro Pusat Statistik, Jakarta, 2011. rising to 100,587 at the 2020 Cen ...

traditional market sell the leaves whether sliced or not.

Nutrition

The edible portions of the plant are an excellent source of vitamin C and high in iron.

References

{{Taxonbar, from1=Q974608, from2=Q18667433 Achariaceae Edible nuts and seeds Monotypic Malpighiales genera Dioecious plants Potentially dangerous food